


The one where Steve and Darcy need to talk about their feelings and Bucky pushes them in the right direction

by KeepInHappiness16



Series: Darcy Lewis: Tumblr AU's [4]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I really like AUs, M/M, Multi, No one can properly deal with their feelings, OT3, Post-Captain America: The Winter Soldier, So is Darcy, Steve is an Asshole, Threesome - F/M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-28
Updated: 2015-04-29
Packaged: 2018-03-26 03:54:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3836062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KeepInHappiness16/pseuds/KeepInHappiness16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve Rogers is a real nice guy, except with Darcy Lewis. Why? Who the fuck knows. OR the one where Steve is the jealous asshole, Darcy has trouble talking about her feelings, and Bucky is confused as to why he likes these oblivious morons.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Just like that episode of Days of Our Lives...

**Author's Note:**

> I'm stuck with my other story and tumblr is always fueling my writing ideas with lame AU's. Hope you enjoy, planning on only having a few chapters.

In Bucky’s opinion, if anyone was asking for it, well he thinks Steve Rogers is a pretty stand up guy. Always has been, really. Polite, never talked down to others, always a gentleman. But for some damn reason, his attitude turned to shit when Darcy was around. Steve thinks he’s pretty good at hiding it, but Bucky knows him like the back of his hand, and when Darcy was around the two of them, warning flags always seem to go off in his mind. 

If Bucky was in the kitchen making food for the two of them, they’re always on opposite sides of the room. Sometimes the team never had the luxury of them being so quiet, their conversations instantly turning sour and then into a verbal brawl. Truthfully, it pissed him off to no end. But don’t think this is some one-sided hate relationship. Where Steve is quiet and full of ugly stares, Darcy matches those with sassy comments just to get a rise from him. 

The thing was, Bucky had no clue where it all came from, or what brought everything on. 

“Why don’t you liker her?” He snapped at Steve one night, almost seeing red after dragging the big lug away from Darcy where the bickering two were having a heated argument about God knows what. “What the fuck did Lewis do to you to make you act like such a fucking prick!” 

Steve was fuming, still not coming down from his anger their yelling match caused. He didn’t answer, which only added fuel to Bucky’s fire. “Dammit, answer me!”

“I don’t like the way she acts, alright?” Steve, who was now standing in front of the bathroom sink, knuckles white from how hard he was gripping the damn thing. His voice sounded more even than it had just a few minutes ago, letting Bucky calm down a bit as well. “She’s so _vulgar_ , everything she says is either an innuendo or some stupid pop culture reference. It drives me nuts, Buck.” 

Bucky only rolled his eyes, “You’re kidding, right?”

“No, Bucky,” Steve sighed, hands releasing the sink as he turned to face his friend, “Honest to God, I can’t stand the woman.”

\---

“What the fuck was his problem? Like, ok. Obviously politicians aren’t treated as nicely as they were in the 40’s but Jesus Christ! Does he not see how those assholes treat their own? Is he really that ignorant that he can’t _see_ -”

“ _Darcy._ ” She went quiet. Usually if it were Jane trying to shut her up after a yelling match with Steve she’d just be telling her to shut the hell up until they both got tired of screaming. Natasha though, once she uses her _you need to calm down before I make you calm down_ voice, Darcy zips her mouth and throws away the key. 

Sighing, Darcy falls face first into her mattress with a weak, “Sorry.” She honestly never understood why her and Steve acted like this towards each other. He gave her small smiles here and there when they passed each other in the halls near the labs only a few years ago, but once Bucky joined the gang, those smiles were replaced with mean glares. Ok, so she might have sat in Bucky’s lap one too many times, or played with his hair until he dozed off while they were watching some stupid reality show Barton left on, but once she got her first round of nasty looks from Steve, she stopped. But Steve did not. The looks and snarky comments kept coming, and she was going to snark back, dammit. 

“Tell me what to do, Nat. Tell me what I did wrong that made him hate my fucking guts so I can fix it.” 

Natasha sighed and joined her on the bed, laying on her back and stared at the ceiling. “I don’t know what to tell you, Darcy.”

“You’re going to lay there and tell me Steve hasn’t mentioned anything about his undying hatred for me?” Rolling onto her side, she looked at Natasha with sad eyes, “I don’t want him to hate me, Nat. I try to be civil with him, but he just pushes the wrong button whenever we have a conversation and the next thing I know- BOOM. I’m in my room crying while he’s off punching a wall or something.” 

“Have you told James?”

Darcy looked at her friend, confused at what she was meant. “Have I told Bucky wha- No. _Hell_ to the fucking no.”

“Why?”

She scoffed, “Why?! ‘Oh hey Bucky, you know how we’ve know each other for a few months now? Well, guess what! I have a huge crush on you and your stupid asshole boyfriend! Wanna go out?’ Is that what you want me to say?”

“Probably wouldn’t hurt.”

“No, it wouldn’t. What would hurt is having Steve laugh in my face and convince Bucky that I’m no good for them. I’m not taking that chance, Nat. I value my ego too much.” Kicking off her shoes, Darcy shoved her face into her pillow. “Leave me,” she muffled, “My pride has been damaged. Only sleep will heal my wounded soul.” 

\--

“Any luck?” Clint asked, comfortably watching a rerun of The Real Housewives of whatever. Nat shook her head, and Bucky rubbed his hands over his face. “This is fucking ridiculous.”  
“I have a question,” Tony spoke up, “Why _does_ the good Captain hate Lewis so much?”

Bucky sighed, “He doesn’t hate her, he just can’t get past his jealousy to see that he has a huge fucking crush on her.”

 

“Wait, wait.” Tony actually _laughed_ , the prick. “Rogers is jealous of Lewis because of…”

“Me.”

“What about you?”

“He saw her getting a little handsy with me a few times, not that I minded.”

“So Rogers is jealous because a hot intern was handsy with you, but at the same time has this unknown, angry crush on her.” Tony shook his head, a disbelieving smirk on his lips, “You guys are so fucked up.”

“You know, this is like that episode of Days of Our Lives-”

“Shut up, Clint.” Everyone groaned. No one wanted to hear where his Days of Our Lives rant was going. They never ended well.

“Hear me out! Maybe, we should set these two up. We all get called out on missions, except Steve and Bucky. And since Lewis doesn’t have Jane around right now, she has a bunch of free time.” Everyone was quiet, Clint might actually be on to something. “We do the lock down procedure. Y’know, the one we do when no one is here but Lewis so no one tries to snatch her while we’re gone? So it’s just her, Steve, and Bucky and the three levels they're able to access while we're gone.”

“They’ll get suspicious, they aren’t stupid.” Tony remarked, but he was right. There was no way they weren’t going to tell something fishy was going on. 

“Ok, then we’ll just make it seem like a sudden emergency. Rogers and Bucky seem like good guys to protect Lewis while we're gone, just in case Stark's security goes funky.”

“Nothing has ever gone wrong with my stuff!”

“ _Evil artificial intelligences count as something going wrong, Tony_.” He quieted down. 

“Sounds good to me. When do you want to do this?” Nat asked. She loved Darcy and Steve but Jesus, the tension between the two was almost unbearable. Almost. 

“Morning,” Bucky suggested, “Everything shitty like that always happens in the morning. Steve is out like a light, always is after he gets into it with Darce. He won’t question it at first.” 

“Then it’s settled,” Clint said, rubbing his hands together with an dumb smirk on his face, “Leave Lewis with Steve and Bucky until they fix their problem. This is just like that episode of Days of Our Lives….”


	2. Wing it

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just getting the ball rolling with this story. Have another chapter! Thank you for all of your kudos and nice comments :)

Living in Stark Tower obviously had its perks. Personal living space? Check. Unlimited food? Check. Artificial intelligence that _won’t_ kill you but instead act as your alarm/friend? Fucking check. Since Darcy had been living in the tower for almost two and a half years now, Jarvis knows the types of things she does and does not like. Is Darcy still sleeping even though it’s almost past noon? Automatic blinds come down to block out the awful sunlight. Low on food in her mini fridge? A basket full of food waits outside her door the next day. It was sweet.

So its times like these, when the blaring sound of the alarms signaling the Avengers to wake up and gather in the meeting room, that Darcy really loves Jarvis. Instead of scaring the shit out of her to let her know that the Super Friends are going out to save the world, Jarvis makes sure to let her know they’re out once she wakes up. 

This time, though, it was different. Usually hearing something along the lines of, _“The lock down is engaged, the team should be back soon,”_ Darcy instead hears _,“The lock down is engaged, Sergeant Barnes and Captain Rogers are available in their rooms if you need them.”_

That really woke her up. “Wait, Jarv. Why are they here? Why didn’t they go with?” Panic started to rise in her chest, _Why the fuck did they leave Steve and Bucky here fuckfuckfuck_. 

_“The team thought it necessary to leave both men here in case of a break in.”_

She groaned, there was no way in hell this was actually happening. They leave the two guys she’s crushing on, one that hates her guts, the other being in love with the one that hates her guts. Nice. 

Then she’s faced with the realization that she can’t hide out in her room until the rest of the team gets back because they never know when it’ll be over until it’s over. Actually...hiding out in her room didn’t seem like such a bad idea. She could ask Jarvis to notify her if the guys were out and about in the tower, sneak some food, and run like hell back to her room. The plan was actually fool proof. Or, so she thought until Jarvis disrupted her planning.

“Miss Lewis, Sergeant Barnes is on his way to your room.” 

_”Why?”_ She practically wailed, scrambling off her bed and over to her closet to find something decent to wear by the time Bucky showed up. “Jarvis,” she called out, “tell him I’m still sleeping!”

_”I’ve already informed him that you were awake, Miss Lewis. My apologies.”_

Darcy rolled her eyes before sifting through her closet. ‘My apologies’ basically meant ‘Grow up and deal with it’. Deciding that since it was just Bucky, a t-shirt and yoga pants were good enough, Darcy made her way into her small living room and waited for Bucky. 

Not having to wait too long, a knock at the door got her to get up and answer it. “Mornin’, doll. Sleep well?”

Bucky. Damn, did Darcy like Bucky. Old fashioned charm with his cute pet names melted her heart. His extremely good looks were just a bonus, and his panty-wetting smile should be considered a bonus bonus. Her mind seemed to turn gooey when he was around.

“As well as I could, come in.” She stepped aside, “How come you guys didn’t go with the rest of the team?”

Taking a seat on her couch, Bucky looked over at her and shrugged, “Stark said there was a chance they would come to the tower, and after the robot incident not too long ago, he wanted someone here to protect you. I offered to stay, and Steve-”

“Wanted to keep you safe.” Darcy finished for him, but Bucky gave her a look. “Wanted to keep _all_ of us safe, Darce. Believe it or not, Steve considers you a part of the family. He ain’t gonna let you get hurt.”

“Could have fooled me,” She said under her breath, though she knew Bucky probably heard it. “Tea, coffee?”

“Coffee,” Bucky replied, and followed her into her kitchen. Taking a seat on one of the bar stools, he kept his eyes trained on her movements. It pissed her off.

“If you have something to say Barnes, spit it out.”

He leaned back in his chair, a small smirk playing on his pink lips. “Why do you hate Steve?”

Darcy’s head snapped around at his question. “Excuse me?” She seethed, stopping her movements all together. 

“You heard me, why do you hate Steve?” 

“What you should really be doing is asking him why he hates _me_. I don’t hate Steve.” She didn’t. As much as his attitude towards her seemed to get on her nerves, she didn’t have it in her to hate him.

“I already know the answer to that one, sweetheart.” Bucky’s voice seemed to drop lower, and as he got up from his seat, he slowly stalked his way over to where Darcy was standing. “You wanna know why he acts the way he does around you?” Darcy, who was now stuck in the corner of her kitchen after taking a step back from every step forward Bucky took, nodded her head weakly, eyes wide. 

“Well,” Bucky purred, his right hand coming up to brush the hair from her face, “it seems that Stevie isn’t good at expressing his damn feelings. He’s never had to debate on things with a beautiful woman before. You make him frustrated, and he doesn’t know what to do with that.”

Darcy laughed weakly, “So he acts like an asshole in return? That’s bullshit Barnes, and you know it.”

“That, and he saw how you were with me when I got here. Always touching me,” He bent his head down, his lips ghosting over the skin of her neck. God, if he kept this up her poor knees were going to give out. “Making me laugh. You made- _make_ \- me feel good, Darcy. Both of you do. He wasn’t sure how he felt about that.” Moving his lips to the shell of her ear, he whispered, “Steve can be a little territorial. You ever wonder why the SHIELD agents haven’t flirted with you since that one rookie?”

'That one rookie' being John something, a level 7 agent who constantly came into contact with the Avengers and higher ups of Stark Tower. He flirted up a storm with her, asked her out to dinner, but dropped her like a hot potato the day after she slept with him. Darcy wasn’t really bothered by it. _OK_ she may or may not have drunkenly cried to Jane and Natasha later that day, but she was good to go afterwards. But she never saw him again, and later heard that he was moved out of state. “That was you?” She whimpered, the light kisses on her neck she was now receiving feeling way too good to make her care about the pathetic noises she was making.

 _”Steve,”_ Bucky murmured, “It was Steve. He heard what happened, no woman should be treated like a toy that can be easily thrown away. He went to the kid's SO, got him switched. He was livid that you’d been treated like that.”

“Then why does he act like he hates me?” Darcy whispered sadly.

Bucky pulled back, taking her face gently in his hands. “He ain’t good with words. Just...talk to him. Please?”

Darcy shook her head, taking Bucky’s hands off her face and stepped around him, “I- I don’t know, Bucky. I don’t think we can fix whatever this is between us.”

“Please, Darcy.” He begged her. 

“Why?” She argued, “What would the point of it all be? To stand being in the same room together? To have a conversation with trying to tear each others throats ou-”

“I want both of you.” Darcy’s jaw went slack, which only made Bucky continue. “I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think I don’t notice, doll. Trust me, _I notice_. It’s the same look you give Steve when he walks by you. Please, just this once. Talk to him.”

Darcy closed her eyes and sighed, “If he acts like a prick, I’m not holding back my punches.”

Bucky smiled, “Good. Knock some sense into him.”

\-----------------

“YOU DID WHAT?!” 

Bucky, who had just gotten back from his mini breakfast with Darcy, told Steve what they talked about. “You heard me, punk. And calm down, Jesus.”

“Have you lost your damn _mind_? You know how I feel about her-”

“You’re damn right I do!” Bucky snapped, “You need to get over whatever shit that’s making you a jealous dumbass and see how you’ve been treating her for the past couple months!”

Steve scoffed, “I ain’t jealous.”

If Bucky’s eyes had rolled back any harder they’d’ve popped out of his head. “Oh, bullshit, Rogers!” He roared, “You were jealous when you saw how touchy she was with me, and you were jealous at the attention the SHIELD agents gave her. What, are you mad she’s all over me and not you? Huh?” Steve glared at him, crossing his arms over his broad chest, but remained quiet. “Get over yourself, Steve. She’s a real sweetheart who’s been treated like shit by _you_.”

Steve was about to argue back when, _God_ , he really did treat her like shit. Darcy was a passionate woman, and he loved hearing her rant about useless movie facts, politics, even space. But he could never form his words right without them sounding like he was arguing with her. The only other person he ever argued with was Tony, Bucky on occasion, and he got way too snarky to be nice about it. Steve just didn’t know how to debate with someone who wasn’t an asshole back to him. But once he got Darcy fired up, boy she could rip him a new one. 

“Jesus,” he whispered helplessly. “Fuck. Bucky, I really fucked up. How did you even get her to agree to talk with me? What am I going to do?”

The soft knocking at the door and Jarvis announcing Darcy’s arrival caught their attention. Bucky looked at his friend with a smirk, “Guess we’ll just have to wing it.”


	3. Shower or tub?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Already over 100 kudos?! You're all too good to me. Thank you again for your comments, you guys crack me up, I love it. Hopefully watch AoU tonight, hopes are high..

Their chat ended up going to shit. Bucky just didn't understand how two people could go from light banter to angry words and harsh goodbyes. 

  


Everything was going well at first, Darcy and Steve sat on the loveseat while Bucky sat on the recliner across from them. It was awkward at first, but if there's anything Darcy was good at, it was breaking the ice. She instantly apologized for upsetting Steve when he gave his opinion, but Steve cut in and apologized for just being a prick in general. 

  


"I don't know what it is, I guess I've had too many sour conversations with Tony that I don't know when to hold my tongue." 

  


Darcy laughed, "No, I get way too into things sometimes." Looking down at her hands, Darcy quietly apologized, "Also, sorry for being so- I don't know- hands with Bucky. I didn't know what you guys were at the time." 

  


And then Steve, good ole Steve, opened his dumb mouth and said, "Guess dames don't know when to keep their hands off other people's partners nowadays, but I guess I get it now." He thought it sounded like a joke, but as always, it wasn't perceived that way. 

  


Darcy didn't explode like she probably would have normally, but it didn't stop her from asking, "Get what, exactly?" 

  


"Bucky was the new guy, you usually cling on to the newest member in the Tower. Just didn't know you were as handsy with 'em. You weren't with me." Steve actually thought he was making a joke, but that nasty feeling inside him made him think, _Why wasn't she as touchy with me as she was with everyone else?_

  


When Darcy stood up and promptly threw her drink in his face, he knew he fucked up. Again. "Fuck you, Rogers," Darcy spat. "I'm not going to sit here and let you call me a fucking whore." She turned to Bucky then, his mouth hanging open from what he'd just witnessed. "I can't believe you talked me into this." 

  


She stormed her way to their front door, and slammed it shut once she left. Like hell she was going to stick around any longer. Stepping into the elevator she said, "To my room, Jarvis. No stops on the way whatsoever." 

  


\--

  


"What happened?" Steve asked, wiping off the water droplets from his face. He'd never had a drink thrown in his face, only heard about it happening from guys he knew deserved it. Well, he guessed he deserved his. 

  


"You really don't know how to talk to her, do you?" Bucky asked in disbelief. 

  


"I thought I was making a joke!" 

  


"You don't make jokes that make her feel bad! You know what-" Bucky got up from his seat, shoved his feet into his boots and said, "Come on. We're going to her room." 

  


"You really think she'll let us in there?" 

  


"Not without a little persuasion. Grab your paint stuff and let's go." 

  


\--

  


She held it together for almost a full minute once she got into her room. After that, nothing but tears. She didn't get it. Bucky said Steve liked her, that he cared about her. But everything he just told her said otherwise. 

  


The knock at her door made her groan. "Go away!" 

  


"Please let me in, sweetheart." 

  


"Is he with you?" 

  


Bucky was silent for a moment before answering, "Yes. I have an idea, if you'll give me the chance to explain." 

  


She felt like shit, her makeup sadly messed up from her tears. She wasn't sure if she could handle anymore heartbreak that night, but she gave him a shot. 

  


Opening the door, she stepped aside to let the super soldiers in, only making eye contact with Bucky. "What's your idea?" 

  


"Take your top of." 

  


"What?!" This...was not what she expected his plan to be. Or at least, start off with. "Why the hell would I do that?" 

  


Heaving a frustrated sigh, Bucky grabbed her hand and led her into her bedroom. He didn't have to look back to know Steve was following. Once they were all standing in front of her bed, Bucky repeated his request. "Take your shirt off, Darcy." 

  


"No." 

  


"Please?"

  


"No!"

  


_"Please?"_

  


Darcy sighed. "Tell me why and I'll think about it." 

  


"I can't tell you, it's a surprise." 

  


"Oh my god." She took her shirt off. What? She's done way worse for much less. Standing in front of Bucky, arms crossing over her bra covered chest, Darcy asked, "Now what?" 

  


"Lay down on your stomach." 

  


"With these boobs? Not happening." 

  


"Lay down so it's comfortable. You have to be on your stomach for this." 

  


She groaned, if nothing good came from this tonight she was pretty sure she could never look these two in the eye ever again. Darcy was out on a limb here. 

  


Once she got situated and comfortable, she felt the bed dip beside her, seeing Bucky reach over. Her bra snapped undone. "Bucky!" But it wasn't Darcy that yelled, it was Steve. 

  


"I ain't done yet!" Leaning back, Bucky looked her in the eye and asked, "May I take this off?"

  


What the hell, "Go for it, champ." Sliding the straps down her arms, goose bumps rose wherever Buckys fingers skimmed across her skin. She sat up just enough to have the bra pulled out from under her and watched as Bucky threw it half way across the room. 

  


"Steve, would you be so kind as to come here with your paint?" Bucky got off the bed and instead knelt down beside it so he was eye level with Darcy. "Steve here is going to use his paint, non-toxic, promise, and use your back as his canvas. Do you mind?" 

  


Wait, the paint was going where?

  


"Not at all, go nuts, Rogers." Bucky smiled, and when he got up to get a glass of water for Steve, she felt light fingers trail across her the skin of her back. It felt nice, gentle. 

  


"I didn't mean to hurt you," he whispered. 

  


"I know." 

  


\--

  


Now, Darcy loved being touched, caressed, spanked if she was horney enough, but the gentle way Steve touched her as he painted his picture on her back was nothing she'd felt before. No one talked, Bucky lay quiet beside her and held her hand. Darcy was stretched out on the bed, sometimes of the verge of sleep because of how good Steve was making her feel. It all felt so intimate, because it was. It felt _good_. 

  


"What's he drawin'?" Darcy questioned sleepily, unaware of how much time had passed. 

  


"You'll just have to see once he's finished, doll. I'll tell you what though, it's almost as beautiful as you." Bucky said quietly, bringing her hand up to his lips to kiss her knuckles. 

  


"Not possible," She heard Steve say, "I ain't that good." 

  


After a couple dozen strokes, though, Steve finished. "Have a look, Darce." 

  


Getting up from the bed, a pillow crushed against her front for coverage, Darcy padded over to her floor to ceiling mirror in the bathroom. Turning around, she gasped softly. It was of Central Park in what looked like autumn. The warm tone of colors blending beautifully across her back had created a gorgeous picture. "I don't want to wash it off..."

  


Steve chuckled, "Tell you what, I'll paint you another one on actual paper if you do." 

  


"Deal." Taking another look, Darcy asked, "How am I supposed to wash this off?" 

  


"That's all up to you, Darce. If you want, Steve and I can offer extra pair of hands." 

  


That, wasn't what she meant. She was looking for Loofa or scrub brush. Her cheeks flamed at Buckys offer, though. The thought of those two in her tub.. 

  


She didn't realize she answered until she saw Bucky's smile and heard him ask, "Shower or tub?" 

  


Taking a good look at both men, she decided the tub was _just_ big enough for them to all squeeze in. "Definitely tub." 

  



End file.
